(A) The authority and responsibility for properly administering this chapter shall be vested in the Town Council.
(B) The Town Council shall establish a Commission with the authority and responsibility for properly administering this chapter. The Commission will administratively enforce all formal complaints alleging a violation of the provisions of this chapter for the purpose of investigation, resolution, and appropriate relief as provided for under I.C. 22-9.5-6.
(C) The Town Council shall administer its departments, programs, and activities relating to housing and urban development in a manner affirmatively to further the purposes of this chapter.
(D) The Town Council shall provide information on remedies available to any aggrieved person or complainant requesting that information.
(E) Each complaint must be in writing and must be signed and affirmed by the aggrieved person filing the complaint or, if the complaint is filed by the Commission, by any Commission member, or the director, if one is appointed pursuant to § 90.32(B). The signature and affirmation may be made at any time during the investigation. The Commission may require complaints to be made on prescribed forms.
(1) Complaint forms will be made available in the Town Hall.
(2) Notwithstanding any requirement for the use of a prescribed form, the Commission will accept any written statement which substantially sets forth the allegations of a discriminatory housing practice under this chapter.
(3) An aggrieved person may provide information to be contained in a complaint by telephone to the Town Clerk-Treasurer’s office. The Clerk-Treasurer will reduce the information provided by telephone to writing on the prescribed complaint form and send the form to the aggrieved person to be signed and affirmed.
(4) Each complaint must contain substantially the following information:
(a) The name and address of the aggrieved person;
(b) The name and address of the respondent;
(c) A description and the address of the dwelling which is involved, if appropriate; and
(d) A concise statement of the facts, including pertinent dates, constituting the alleged discriminatory housing practice.
(5) Except as provided in division (E)(6) of this section, a complaint is filed when it is received by the Commission in a form that reasonably meets the standards of divisions (E)(4)(a) through (E)(4)(d) above.
(6) The Commission may determine that a complaint is filed for the purposes of the one-year period for filing complaints, upon the submission of written information (including information provided by telephone and reduced to writing by the Commission or Town Clerk-Treasurer) identifying the parties and describing generally the alleged discriminatory housing practice.
(7) Where a complaint alleges a discriminatory housing practice that is continuing, as manifested in a number of incidents of that type of conduct, the complaint will be timely if filed within one year of the last alleged occurrence of that practice.
(F) An aggrieved person may, not later than one year after an alleged discriminatory housing practice has occurred or terminated, whichever is later, file a complaint with the Commission alleging the discriminatory housing practice.
(G) A complaint under this chapter may be reasonably and fairly amended at any time.
(H) When a complaint is filed under this chapter, the Commission shall do the following:
(1) Give the aggrieved person notice that the complaint has been received;
(2) Advise the aggrieved person of the time limits and choice of forums under this chapter;
(3) Not later than ten days after the filing of the complaint or the identification of an additional respondent, serve on each respondent:
(a) A notice identifying the alleged discriminatory housing practice and advising the respondent of the procedural rights and obligations of a respondent under this chapter; and
(b) A copy of the original complaint.
(4) A person who is not named as a respondent in a complaint, but who is identified in the course of the investigation as a person who is alleged to have engaged, or is about to engage in the discriminatory housing practice upon which the complaint is based may be joined as an additional or substitute respondent by service of a notice on the person under division (H)(3) of this section within ten days of the identification. If the person is not named in the complaint, but is being joined as an additional or substitute respondent, the notice will explain the basis for the Commission’s belief that the joined person is properly joined as a respondent.
(I) Not later than ten days after the receipt of the notice and copy of the complaint, a respondent may file an answer to the complaint. An answer must be:
(1) In writing;
(2) Signed under oath; and
(3) In the form prescribed by the Commission.
(J) An answer may be reasonably and fairly amended at any time with the consent of the Commission.
(K) An answer does not inhibit the investigation of a complaint.
(L) The Commission shall determine based on the facts whether reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice has occurred or is about to occur. The Commission shall make this determination not later than 100 days after a complaint is filed unless:
(1) The Commission has approved a conciliation agreement relating to the complaint; or
(2) It is impracticable to make the determination within that time period, in which case the Commission shall notify the complainant and respondent in writing of the reasons for the delay.
(M) If the Commission determines that no reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice has occurred or is about to occur, the Commission shall promptly issue a short and plain statement of the facts upon which the Commission has based the no reasonable cause determination, dismiss the complaint, and notify the aggrieved person and the respondent of the dismissal (including the written statement of the facts). The fact of the dismissal, including the names of the parties, shall be public information available on request.
(N) The Commission may not issue a finding of reasonable cause under this chapter regarding an alleged discriminatory housing practice after the beginning of the trial of a civil action commenced by the aggrieved party under federal or state law seeking relief with respect to that discriminatory housing practice.
(O) If the Commission determines that reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice has occurred or is about to occur, the Commission shall immediately issue a finding of reasonable cause consisting of a short and plain statement of the facts on which the Commission found reasonable cause on behalf of the aggrieved person.
(P) Not later than 20 days after the Commission issues a finding of reasonable cause, the Commission shall send a copy of the finding of reasonable cause to each respondent and each aggrieved person with the following information:
(1) A complainant, a respondent, or an aggrieved person on whose behalf the complaint was filed may elect to have the claims asserted in a finding of reasonable cause decided in a civil action;
(2) The election must be made not later than 20 days after the date of receipt of the reasonable cause notice by the electing person; and
(3) The person making the election shall give notice to the Commission and to all other complainants and respondents to whom the finding of reasonable cause relates.
(Q) If a timely election is made under division (P)(1) above, the Commission shall, not later than 30 days after the election is made, file and maintain a civil action on behalf of the aggrieved person in a circuit or superior court that is located in the county in which the alleged discriminatory housing practice occurred. If a timely election is not made, the Commission shall provide for a hearing on the finding of reasonable cause.
(1985 Code, § 900-9) (Ord. 95-7, passed 3-13-1995)